Sambalpur: Police on Tuesday arrested four members of a gang, including two women, for allegedly stealing gold and silver jewelery from the residence of an engineer in Dehripali area here. The police also detained two minor girls in connection with the burglary. All six are part of a group of nomads in Bihar.
A court remanded the four adults in judicial custody, while the Juvenile Justice Board sent the two minors to a correctional facility on Tuesday.
The main accused have been identified as Sudha Kherwal (32), Anju Kherwal (25), Nabin Kherwal (26) and Parwan Kherwal (35). The police recovered 65 grams of gold and 250 grams of silver jewelery from their possession, along with 12,000 lei.
The incident took place on Saturday when Jyoti Prakash Mohanty, an engineer at Tata Power Western Odisha Distribution Limited, was away from home. The suspects, who posed as beggars, entered the house while Mohanty’s wife was hanging clothes on the terrace. CCTV footage showed a woman and a child entering the house while another couple waited outside.
“These individuals operate under the guise of begging and target unattended houses,” Sub-Divisional Police Officer (Sadar) Tophan Bag said. “After arresting a suspect in Khetrajpur, our team traced their links to Bihar and Rourkela.”
The investigation revealed that the gang is part of a larger network operating in several cities. Police also arrested another accused in Rourkela based on the information provided by the arrested persons.